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GameStop lays plans to close at least 150 stores this year

GameStop has confirmed plans to close at least 150 GameStop stores around the world this year in an ongoing effort to close down underperforming locations -- but it's opening 100 new non-game stores.

Alex Wawro, Contributor

March 24, 2017

1 Min Read
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GameStop, that global retailer of video games (and other things), has confirmed to Fortune that it plans to close at least 150 GameStop stores around the world this year in an ongoing effort to close down underperforming locations.

This was mentioned yesterday in GameStop's fiscal 2016 earnings report, when the company said it would "close between 2 and 3 percent" of its ~7,500 storefronts worldwide. The fact that GameStop confirmed Fortune's math on that is notable because the also company claimed is an ongoing process, and is not a direct result of 2016's lackluster earnings.

Nevertheless, GameStop's stock value plunged by over 10 percent today in the wake of its earnings report. But while sales of game hardware and new/used games fell year-over-year in 2016, GameStop reported that its Collectibles and Technology businesses both grew year-over-year.

Thus, as it lays plans to shut down 2-3 percent (~150-225) of its GameStop storefronts, the company is also expecting to open roughly 35 new technology storefronts (like Cricket Wireless) and 65 collectibles storefronts (think: Zing Pop Culture) worldwide.

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